tent platform to keep track and engage
with others about popular shows.

“We think Watch will be home toa wide range of shows, from reality tocomedy to live sports,” Daniel Danker,Facebook’s director of product, said inthe company announcement. “To helpinspire creators and seed the ecosystem,we’ve also funded some shows that areexamples of community-oriented and epi-sodic video series. For example, Returningthe Favor is a series hosted by Mike Rowewhere he finds people doing somethingextraordinary for their community, tellsthe world about it, and in turn doessomething extraordinary for them. Can-Other Watch originals will comefrom media partners like The Atlantic,ATTN:, NASA, Mashable, Major LeagueBaseball, and Now This.

Gen Zen

For a glimpse into the future of TV,
marketers should get to know Generation Z. This is the first generation born
into on-demand video. They don’t pay
much attention to the origin of a show
— whether it’s from ABC or HBO or
Netflix. They just want to know what’s
popular and who’s watching what.

In Response’s July entertainmentmarket story, TV Time COO Dan Briantalked about the need for not only track-ing all of this new TV/video content, butcreating a hub where TV fans can inter-act about their favorite shows, and theopportunity for advertisers to reach thisemerging audience. According to Brian,TV Time sends out more than 60 mil-lion notifications every month alone justletting people know that their favoriteshows are about to come on, and it’s aprime opportunity for sponsorship andbrand integrations.

The good news for advertisers is thatthe youngest TV viewers out there maybe the most receptive to brand market-ing. This is according to a research reportfrom Hulu and Tremor Video, “How GenZ Connects To TV: Exploring the Gen-erational Divide in the Future of TV.”“Gen Z defines TV not as a box withglass and wires, but as a gallery of shows,”according to the report, which comparedbehaviors and attitudes about TV and TVadvertising between Gen Z, millennials,and Gen X. “Television has always beenabout the programming, and althoughthat hasn’t changed, the hierarchy of tel-evision consumption has been turned up-side down, no longer driven by the type ofnetwork (broadcast or cable), time of day(DVR or live viewing), or location (theroom with a cable connection). Gen Z isushering in a new, boundaryless paradigm:whatever TV content they choose, wher-ever they are, whenever and howevermuch they want.”Yet, with all of this content, and withall of their ability to skip or altogethereliminate ads, Gen Z doesn’t mind themso much. 54 percent of respondents saidthey don’t mind or even enjoy watchingTV ads. 45 percent of millennial respond-ents, and 43 percent of Gen X respond-ents agreed.

“In fact, when done right,” the reportcontinues, “Gen Z actually embraces ad-vertising as something to enjoy as muchas the content — not a distraction to beskipped.”Hulu says “Gen Zen” is at peace withadvertising because the ads they see arerelevant, targeted, and often entertaining.It’s a new era of purposeful viewing, andwith more “must-watch” TV than everbefore, direct marketers have opportuni-ties to reach their desired audience andalign their message with premium pro-gramming. ■

“Gen Z defines TV not as a box with glass and wires, but as a gallery of shows. Television has always beenabout the programming, and although that hasn’tchanged, the hierarchy of television consumption hasbeen turned upside down, no longer driven by the typeof network ... Gen Z is ushering in a new, boundarylessparadigm: whatever TV content they choose, whereverthey are, whenever and however much they want.” REPORT: HOW GEN Z CONNECTS TO TV: EXPLORING THEGENERATIONAL DIVIDE IN THE FUTURE OF TV